


A Merman Ruined my Net: the Jack Rollins Story

by winter_angst



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Boats and Ships, Crack Treated Seriously, Fisher!Jack, Fishing, M/M, Merpeople, Misunderstandings, Revenge, but not in a bad way, unless you're jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24291946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winter_angst/pseuds/winter_angst
Summary: When Jack accidentally pulls Brock up in his net, his life is set to change forever. (For better and for worse)
Relationships: Jack Rollins/Brock Rumlow
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23
Collections: Villain of My Own Story Exchange 2020





	A Merman Ruined my Net: the Jack Rollins Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kalika999 (kalika_999)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalika_999/gifts).



> A gift for the wonderful Kalika999. I hope you like it!

Jack was enjoying a very average day on his boat, nets down, thinking about the upcoming weekend. Sea spray made the air glitter around with him as he leaned against the helm. The boat had passed down generation after generation of Rollins and despite showing her age, she functioned better than the newer vessels. Jack, like his father before him, was more comfortable at sea than he was on land. The simplicity of it was just one of many appeals. 

Of course there were plenty of annoyances at sea. There were the scummy draggers who made a bad name for the profession by killing seabirds and stringing them up with the sails to scare birds away from eating all the chum. There was a rivalry between draggers and fishers, especially the seasonal ones. Passive aggressively approaching to frighten any fish following their chum trails, and more aggressively, cutting close to get their anchor tangled in the nets to tow them out of their spot. It was a good way to sink a ship and deflect blame of it being an accident. That sort of behavior disgusted Jack and he found the best way to avoid it all was to find his own little spot far from the usual dragger routes. 

The waters were darker and deeper. For an outsider the churning depths may have been frightening but Jack had grown up here. 

Jack was a bottom trawler by trade, his nets were down to catch halibut, cod and rockfish. It wasn’t an extravagant business but it was steady and Jack never had a want for anything. He was happy just being able to spend so much time on the water. It was just a routine pull when it all changed. 

As the nets crested the frothing waves of a pre-storm ocean, something big was splashing. Jack frowned wondering if it was just a stray shark that had been scooped up. It wouldn’t be the first time (and certainly not the last). Sometimes Jack would keep them and pass out the steaks when he got back to port but typically Jack just tossed them back and hoped that a chunk of himself didn’t go with it. Sea creatures were just as vicious as land ones -- they were still wild animals after all. He had a scar from accidentally catching a swordfish in his net. Jack couldn’t hold a grudge and Dr. Banner never minded stitching him up. 

Jack grabbed his knife and slowed the rate of pull. He leaned over the edge a bit. After first all he saw were normal fish withering around each other, small pieces of coral he’d snagged as well and then… 

Jack wasn’t sure what he was looking at first. His immediate thought was he’d somehow managed to pull up a body. Then the body began to move and Jack dragged his eyes down the torso and olive skin melted in scales. Glimmering onyx that flashed bluish green when the sun caught it just right. A hissing noise drew his eyes back up the torso to a face -- a very, very angry human face. He was bearing his teeth, canines long and sharp. Jack stepped back, taking stock of the creature once more. 

Of course his grandfather had stories about merpeople in the ocean. He even strung a story about being stuck in a storm and a beautiful mermaid with long flowing red hair had led the vessel back toward shore. Never for a second had Jack truly believed it, not even as a child. Surely if merpeople existed they would know about it, right? Jack tilted his head up at the sun wondering if maybe this was just a hallucination brought about by sunstroke. 

Jack’s fascination ended rather abruptly as he caught sight of what this thing had done to this net. “Ah, hell.” 

It was frayed in parts from this creature trying to chew its way out and the netting had been completely torn in odd places. It’s tail was caught up, tail fin wrapped tightly in netting. “Christ, I’m gonna have to go back to shore now and buy a whole new fuckin’ net -- these aren’t cheap y’know?”

The hissing cut off and the creature -- the mermaid? -- just gawked at him as if it never once considered that it was inconveniencing Jack severely. Muttering heatedly until his breath he stepped around and unlatched the door beneath the bulwark and then pulled out his knife. 

“What are you doing?” the mermaid’s voice was husky and clearly male so maybe it wasn't a mermaid but instead a merman? 

“Cutting you free so you can get the hell of my boat.”

He lifted the end of the tail, heavy and thick, and rested it on his knee as he carefully tried to unwrap the netting before slotting his knife between the fit and the nylon netting. In a few quick motions the creature was free and Jack got back to his feet, gesturing toward the door. 

The merman just stared at him. 

“Well, go on now. Get.” 

Jack pointed toward the door with his boot already calculating the profit loss for the day. Wasted money on chum and gasoline just for some fucking mythical creature to destroy his net. 

The merman held eye contact for a moment before it dragged itself to the door and vanished into the dark water. Jack shook his head with a depreciating laugh. 

What a fucking day. 

** ** ** **

Brock cut through the water at top speed, pulse bounding. He was lucky and he knew it but… It didn’t sit right. Why had the human released him? There would have been riches for him had he brought Brock to shore. All the human had worried about was the net. His mere existence should have gauged a much bigger response than annoyance! 

As he swam around the area, he couldn’t stop thinking about the human. Of course he was lucky to have found a human who wasn’t going to expose him but… How dare he? Brock was nothing to turn your nose up at after all. As time crept by and he restored his strength and stamina with a few cods, he made up his mind. Brock wasn’t a merman to be disregarded and forgotten. 

** ** ** **

“I didn’t expect you to be back on land until tomorrow.”

Jack nodded at the greeting extended to him by Clint who was leaning on the counter looking bored. Lucky, his one eyed lab ran up to him and nudged at his hand with his nose. Kneeling down Jack delivered the pats Lucky was looking for and got a slobbering kiss up the side of his face as thanks. 

“I’m having a hell of a day.” Jack looked around the empty supply shop before he approached the counter, already regretting what he was going to say. “You’re going to think I’m crazy but I caught a fuckin’ mermaid out there this morning.” 

The blond stared at him and then reached up to fiddle with the purple hearing aid tucked behind his ear. “Sorry, I think this thing is bugging out on me. I could’ve sworn you just said you caught a mermaid.” 

“I did. I know it sounds crazy but I did.”

Clint gaped at him and Jack waited for the expected ‘the sun must be getting to you’. Instead he got a head shake and a scoff of disbelief. “Man, I always thought those stories Barney would tell me were a bunch of bull.”

Jack’s brows knit together. “You believe me?”

“‘Course! You don’t lie. What’d it look like?”

“Like a mermaid I guess -- well, a merman. It had a human upper body and a black tail.”

Clint shook his head looking amazed. “How the hell did you catch it?”

“It got caught up in my net -- which is why I’m here. I need a new one.”

Clint straightened up and moved toward the computer. “A lesser man probably would have brought it back here,” Clint pointed out.

“It didn’t even cross my mind. I guess I figure wildlife should stay where it belongs.” 

“Well, hats off to you then Rollins. If you catch another one at least take a picture for me, okay? Kate would love it.” 

** ** ** **

It was easy to track the boat. 

Brock studied it when it was at port, and the human as well who was busy changing the netting. He was putting it in trash bags instead of tossing stray pieces in the ocean. Brock could appreciate that but it didn’t stop him from feeling slighted by him. Brock was determined to catch his attention again, to get the reaction he was owed -- that he deserved. 

So he followed the boat out early the next morning. Followed the anchor down as it settled into the ground and then he got to work. The fins that ran up the sides of his tail were sharped when flared, merpeople’s natural defense, and he sawed at the rope. It was decent quality but it frayed with ease -- it wasn’t meant to sustain being cut. Once the rope was floating freely in the currents Brock swam around the boat, tolerating the choking taste of fuel, to ensure the human was alone. Then he crested the water a few yards away and called to him. 

“I cut your anchor.”

The human jumped, sloshing steaming coffee on himself. He hissed in pain reaching for a handkerchief before he froze, front still sodden with the hot beverage and stared down at Brock. 

“You cut my anchor?”

“Yes.” Brock held his chin proudly. “I cut your anchor.”

“Why?” the human cried, throwing his hands up. “Goddamn it -- I’m working here, you know.”

Brock couldn’t believe it. A merman just cut this human’s anchor and he had the audacity to be annoyed at him? It should have been amazement on his face, fascination. He should have leaned over the side of the boat and asked Brock a million questions about being a merman! Instead he was cursing heatedly and pulling up the rope in disbelief. Brock quickly went from feeling slighted to feeling a bit malicious. 

“Another wasted fuckin’ day. I dunno how your mermaid currency works down there but up here you gotta work for it.”  
“I’m clearly a merman,” Brock snapped. 

The human let out a harsh bark of laughter. Brock’s eyes narrowed. “Right, sorry..”

“Forget your money, human. How can you see me, a merman, and not care?”

The human stared at him. “You cut my anchor because you think I didn’t care...about you?”

Color crept up Brock’s neck. “About knowing we exist,” he clarified because, well, the human did have a point but he wasn’t going to admit it to him. 

And, as far as humans went, he was one of the less ugly ones. 

The human sighed heavily. “Okay, fine. Look, you caught me by surprise. My grandad used to tell me stories about mermaids and I thought they were just that -- stories. But clearly… Well, here you are. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t amazed but what did you expect me to do? To bring you to land and have your entire people exposed? I don’t know what you know about us humans but we have a habit of hurting wildlife.”

Brock huffed out a breath. He didn’t plan this far ahead, to be given a reasonable justification to practically ignoring him. “So I did amaze you?” he asked, because he had to know. 

The human laughed, a much friendly sound than the ones Brock had heard. “Yes, you did. But since you’ve done little but annoy me.” 

It was Brock’s turn to laugh. “That is the past time of our people, you know. Ever wondered why your lines break so easily and fish seem to avoid you? We tell them when there’s a fisher in the area.” 

The human smiled at that. “Well, on behalf of all the fisheries in this bay, you suck.” 

“I’m Brock.” He came closer, no longer afraid.

The human’s smile widened. “Well Brock, I’m Jack.”

Brock had a feeling that he would be annoying Jack more in the future. There was something about him that drew him in. Maybe there was something more between them Brock getting tangled in a net. Maybe it was fate?


End file.
